Taking Time
by ChelzToddBrooke
Summary: Maeli has a meltdown at Mac's, leading Don to do some thinking about priorities. Sequel to "Breaking Even"


**A/N: I am trying to catch up on all my series, so if there is one you are interested in that I haven't gotten around to yet, please be patient with me :) Here is the next F/A Fic..with a lil Smacked Enjoy!**

**I own nothing**

* * *

Maeli was spending the night with the Taylor's. The little girl had been bounced between members of the team all week while her parents packed up their small apartment. There was dinner with Danny and Lindsey one night, a movie with Hawkes Sunday afternoon, a trip to the zoo and soccer in the park with Adam and Mel and last but not least, ice cream and a museum with Sid. That didn't even include outings with uncles, aunts, and grandparents. Although it seemed she was getting spoiled rotten, Maeli was flat out exhausted. She had been going nonstop for nearly two weeks, the only time she saw he parents was when they woke her up in the morning. Her mom was still on bed rest and her dad was busy packing and working on restrictive duty. That wasn't to say they were too busy for her, in fact they were trying to keep her best interests in mind as they packed and killing two birds with one stone. Maeli wasn't bored while they packed and she was soaking up as much attention as possible before the new baby came. It seemed like an all around good plan.

Maeli curled into Stella's side as they waited for Mac to return from putting Aaron to bed.

"Are you ready for bed, girlie?" Stella asked with a bright smiled as Maeli yawned for the third time. For some reason, those words triggered something in the little girl. She sat straight up and met Stella's eyes.

"I want my daddy," she stated definitively. Stella furrowed her brow; she wasn't sure how to field that one.

"Well, sweetie," she started.

"I want my daddy," Maeli repeated, her bottom lip starting to quiver. Before Stella could attempt to calm her again, Mac entered the room. He immediately noticed the slight panic in his wife's expression and the distress in Maeli's.

"What's wrong?" he wondered.

"I want to go home," Maeli announced, the tears finally falling.

"Why, honey?" Mac pressed on.

"I miss my mommy and my daddy. I want my daddy!" she replied, now bawling. Mac walked towards the bed and tried to take the little girl into his arms. "No! I want my daddy!" she screamed in between sobs. Mac shook his head. He'd never seen her like this. "I want my daddy!" she screamed yet again. Stella watched Mac's jaw clench. If Maeli wasn't careful and she woke Aaron up, she was going to see a very ugly side of her best friend Mac.

"Maeli," Stella started softly, reaching out to touch the child's shoulder.

"No!" Maeli yelped, squirming away. With his Marine reflexes, Mac reached out and caught Maeli's wrist.

"Maeli!" he ground out. "I will call your dad, but you need to quiet down. Aaron is trying to sleep," he laid out. Maeli whimpered and flopped down on the bed.

"I want my daddy," she mumbled into the comforter. Mac sighed heavily and walked out of the room to find a phone. Stella reached over and gently ran her hand over Maeli's back. She felt for the little girl. She was exhausted and all she wanted was her parents. With the way the girl had been going, it was only a matter of time before she broke. If you looked at it, the same thing happened to her mother and if he wasn't careful, her father was walking down the same path.

* * *

Jess watched her husband fill yet another box. They'd been packing for days. She really wanted to help, but Don wouldn't let her so much as lift a finger. She ran a hand over her stomach as their son moved around. She smiled to herself. If the life of that little boy depended on her resting, she really had no problem staying put.

"He moving again?" Don smiled. Jess nodded. Don walked towards the bed and set his hand next to hers. "he's moving like crazy," he commented.

"He's healthy," Jess replied.

"I'm glad," he mentioned, kissing her cheek as the phone began to ring. "I got it," he added quickly, hopping up to find the handset. "Flack Residence," he answered without even checking the ID.

"Hey, it's Mac," Mac replied.

"Mac, what's up?" Don turned to look at his wife, both of their interests piqued.

"I think you need to come get Maeli, it turns out she's not up for a sleepover after all," Mac informed.

"Ok, I'll be over in a few minutes," Don replied, needing no further explanation. If Mac thought he needed to come get Maeli, there was probably good reason.

"What's going on?" Jess wondered as Don set down the phone.

"Mac says Maeli needs to be picked up," he shrugged.

"Is she ok?" Jess wondered.

"He just said she is not up for a sleepover," Don explained. "I'll be back soon," he promised, kissing her. Jess relaxed back into the bed and took a deep breath.

* * *

"Where's Maeli?" Don asked as Mac answered the door.

"Stel is helping her get her stuff together and get her jacket on," Mac stated flatly. Don cocked an eyebrow, seeing the slight anger in the older man's eyes. "You need to watch out Flack," Mac warned. Don nearly flinched at the use of his last name in a non-work setting. While waiting for Flack to show up, Stella had shared her musings with her husband and Mac felt the need to make the young detective aware of the situation. "That little girl is exhausted and so is her mother, and if you don't watch out you're going to run yourself into the ground as well. It's not worth it, the only thing that matters is Jess, Maeli and your little boy. I think you should take some time," Mac stated. Don just nodded, not really able to pull a response together before his little girl started down the stairs in front of him.

"Daddy!" she cried, still not trying to be too loud thanks to Mac's warning. Don scooped his little girl up, she buried her head in the crook of his neck.

"Hey bug, are you sure you don't want to stay with Mac and Stella tonight?" he checked. She just shook her head. "Ok, then let's get home to Mommy," he decided. Don sent Mac a sharp look and left.

When Don tried to put Maeli in her seat in the back, she clung to him.

"Bug, honey, we have to get you in the car so we can go home," he coaxed.

"But I want to sit next to you," she whined.

"I know you do baby, but you have to sit in your seat, you know it is not safe," he explained. Maeli screamed and fisted his t-shirt tighter. "Honey, you have to let me go," he repeated, reluctantly prying her fingers off of him. He finally managed to get the little girl into her seat and tried to block out her whimpers as he shut the door to climb into the driver's seat.

* * *

The entire drive home, Maeli cried and screamed, each one breaking Don's heart a little more. Maeli was mild mannered at most, since the day she was born, even as an infant, he had never seen such a visceral reaction from his child. When he pulled her from the back seat, she clung to him once again. He carried her through the apartment and into the master bedroom. Jess was looking at him expectantly, her brow furrowed at the sight of her distraught little girl.

"Here honey, sit with Mommy while I go lock up, ok?" he tried to set her down, but she refused to let him go.

"No Daddy!" Maeli cried.

"I will be right back," he assured her. She still didn't let him go. He really needed to go lock up and change over the laundry one more time before he settled in for the evening and it would be much faster if Maeli would just sit with Jess for a few minutes, so he did the only thing he could think of. He set Maeli on the bed, still fiercely gripping his shirt, and he removed the whole shirt, much to Maeli's chagrin. She cried out and rubbed her cheek against the t-shirt in her grasp. Jess scooped her into her side.

"Baby, he will be right back, it's ok," she soothed.

"NO!" Maeli screamed. Her heavy sobs were choked up by thick hiccups. Jess's eyes widened as she watched her daughter begin to gag. At the moment, she thanked God she was pregnant and reached for the trashcan at her bedside.

"oh, uh, Maeli," she stumbled through what to say as she shoved the trashcan in front of the little girl. Jess winced as Maeli threw up. She shook her head and rubbed Maeli's back. "Sweetheart, you need to calm down, or you're going to get sick again," she mentioned, handing her daughter the bottle of water from the nightstand and urging her to take a sip as she set the trashcan back on the floor.

"Mommy, I missed you," Maeli sobbed the first coherent thing since she had arrived home, actually the first coherent thing since Don put her in the car.

"I am sorry baby, I didn't mean to make you miss me," Jess replied, running her fingers through her daughter's hair. Don felt the ache loosen its grip on his heart a little as he heard Maeli's screams turn back into sobs and whimpers. They seemed less violent to his daughter's psyche. He took a calming breath and walked back into the bedroom. Maeli was curled into Jess's side.

"How are you feeling, bug?" he asked softly as he stretched out on his side of the bed.

"Daddy, I miss you, you're too busy," Maeli took advantage of the offer he made a month earlier. He said if they got too busy, all she had to do was say something and they would slow down.

"Bug, I am so sorry, I just thought you would be bored with all the packing, we wanted to make sure you would have some fun," Don explained. She pulled herself into his chest and finally allowed her small body to relax. Don stroked her back until her felt her breathing even out. When it finally did, he slid her off of him and stood from the bed.

"What the hell was that?" Jess wondered, a hint of humor in her expression.

"I have no idea! I have never seen her act like that before! She cried the entire way home," he replied, running a hand through his hair.

"She made herself sick, you need to rinse out the trashcan," Jess added. Don sent her a confused look and took the proffered trashcan and did as he was told.

"I can' believe that she was so upset she threw up," he sighed when he returned to the bedroom once again.

"Don, she's tired, she's just had a long week," Jess mentioned.

"Mac, ah, well nevermind," Don decided against telling her what Mac said.

"Donnie, what?" she could tell something was bothering him.

"Mac said that you two are exhausted and I'm going to run myself into the ground, I can see that he might be right," Don finished, pointing at the sleeping child.

"Don, even if he is right, we're all going to come out ok, we just have to slow down a little bit," she retorted. "Come over here and lay down, I think we are committed to having guest in the bed tonight, but we can at least call it an early night, the packing can be done later," Jess urged. Don nodded and climbed into bed as his wife requested. As the bed shifted, Maeli rooted around on the bed to find her comfortable position again. Jess leaned over the child and kissed her husband.

"Love you," she whispered.

"Love you too," he replied, snuggling with his daughter.

Nearly an hour later, Maeli was still the only one sleeping in the big bed. Don was mulling over what Mac said while Jess was facing a different issue entirely.

"What's up, Jess?" he asked as he felt the bed shift once more.

"He's awake," she groaned. Don chuckled lightly and stood from the bed. He pulled Maeli's body towards the edge of the bed and climbed over her.

"Come here," he opened his arms to his wife as he adjusted himself, now in between his wife and daughter. He could feel the tension in her body. "Talk to me," he encouraged.

"That was just scary, I didn't like seeing Maeli that upset," she admitted

"I know, I didn't like it either," Don agreed.

"Are we bad parents?" Jess wondered.

"No sweetheart, we just got a little overwhelmed," he assured her. He brought a hand to her stomach. He felt their son kick at his palm. He buried his face in the crook of her neck. "You know he won't calm down until you do," Don reminded. Jess laughed lightly. Don moved so he was level with her belly. "Hey buddy, it's Daddy," Don started. "You are doing a great job of letting me know Mommy is upset, but she's ok, and so is your sister, so you can settle down now and let Mommy get a good night's sleep," he whispered. He moved back up and let his hand draw circles across her belly as they drifted to sleep.

* * *

When Don woke up the next morning, Maeli was sprawled out on top of him, her small hand reaching over to grab the t-shirt Jess slept in, where it tightened around her belly. He smiled softly and sat up slowly, shifting the child's position so she was asleep against his shoulder. He carefully pried her hand away from Jess.

"Don?" Jess's voice broke the quiet. He cursed silently, apparently he wasn't so careful.

"Yeah sweetheart," he whispered back. "I'm going to put Maeli in her bed until it's time to get her up for school," he announced.

"I don't think she should go to school today," Jess mentioned, sitting up, wincing slightly as her tight muscles pulled. Don sent her a questioning look. "She needs some good rest, and kindergarten is not exactly going to miss her. Plus I'm home anyway," she explained, reaching out to run her fingers through Maeli's dark curls.

"Alright, then I'm just going to take her to her room then," Don laughed.

"Leave her, she's not bothering me, plus then I don't have to get up when she wakes up alone," Jess smiled.

"I see you're taking your bed rest seriously," Don joked.

"Either that or I'm just lazy when I'm fat," she shrugged.

"Pregnant, PREGNANT, not fat," Don reminded. Jess rolled her eyes. He laid Maeli back on the mattress and gave his wife a quick kiss. "I have to get in the shower or I'm going to be late," he mentioned.

* * *

All day Don thought about what Mac has said the night before, he just couldn't get it out of his mind. It didn't help any that he was reminded of the conversation every time the older detective gave him a disapproving look throughout his shift. He assumed the heavens were looking down on him when he was allowed to clock out right on time.

As he walked through the front door of his apartment, he was attacked by a ball of energy in pink pajamas.

"Whoa bug, Daddy is not as steady on his feet as he used to be," Don laughed as he stumbled just a little while catching her. He felt a slight twinge in his bad knee as he did so. "How are you feeling, baby?" he asked, starting down the hallway to see Jess.

"Good, Mommy and I watched movies all day," she replied excitedly.

"That's great, what time did you wake up?" he asked. Maeli just shrugged.

"About three," Jess provided. Don raised his eyebrows. The little girl slept for nearly eighteen hours. "She dozed in and out from about eleven on," Jess added. Don nodded, that didn't make things seem any better, so she wasn't _dead_ asleep from eleven am to three pm, she was still asleep.

"Daddy," Maeli's voice suddenly sounded very serious.

"Yeah bug," he looked down at her.

"Do you think Mac is mad at me?" the child asked, so innocently it nearly broke her parents' hearts. Don swallowed thickly. Mac was a touchy subject at the moment.

"I don't think so sweetheart," he answered. _He's mad at me_, he added internally.

"Can I call and apologize just in case?" Maeli wondered.

"Of course honey," how could Don refuse that? He walked over to the nightstand and handed her the receiver. "Have at it bug," he grinned, setting her down. Maeli hit the speed dial button for Mac's number and walked towards the door. "Bring that back when you're done," Don requested.

* * *

Mac looked up from the paper work he was working on as the house phone rang. He didn't reach for it, he figured Stella would get it, but it still stalled him.

"Mac honey, it's for you," Stella called up the stairs. He sighed and reached for the phone. He was moderately surprised when a small voice was on the other end of the line.

"Maeli, sweetheart, what did you need?" his mood softened almost immediately.

"I just wanted to say I was sorry and I hope you aren't mad at me," she said, her voice sounding somewhat ashamed.

"Oh honey, I couldn't be mad at you, I just didn't like that you were upset," he said with a soft smile.

"Oh," the little girl replied.

"You owe me a sleep over though, I was sad you didn't stay," Mac teased.

"Well, maybe when my baby brother is born," Maeli decided. Mac laughed to himself. He suspected the coming of the second Flack child might have something to do with Maeli's behavior.

"Ok, sounds good to me," he agreed. "I have some work to finish up, so I'm going to go now, but I will talk to you soon, honey," Mac finished the call. He looked up to see Stella standing in the doorway to his office, balancing Aaron on her hip. A warm feeling settled in Mac's chest as he looked at his small family.

"What did Maeli want?" she asked softly.

"To apologize, she thought I was mad at her," Mac explained, almost scoffing. Stella smirked and walked towards his desk. She put herself in his lap.

"You're mad at her father," she noted.

"Yeah, I, well" Mac groped for the right thing to say.

"Mac," Stella had an edge of warning in her tone.

"He's taking them for granted, Stel," he tried to defend himself.

"I don't think he is, Mac. Don has a lot on his plate. He is working off an injury, making sure his daughter's needs are met and taking care of his pregnant wife who is currently on bed rest," Stella objected. She looked down as Aaron moved in her arms. He grabbed for the pen on Mac's desk. Mac handed it over, closing it first, assuming it would go right in the child's mouth.

"So you think I was a little hard on him?" he wondered.

"That's putting it lightly, I saw the looks you were shooting him all day," she chuckled.

"I just think he should take a few days off to regroup," Mac sighed.

"That is his prerogative, they just bought a house so he needs all the hours he can get," Stella reminded, kissing her husband's cheek.

"Dada?" Aaron finally spoke up, shoving the slobbery pen in the vicinity of his parent's faces.

"What, little man?" Mac smiled.

"Wove you," the toddler grinned. Mac raised his eyebrows. Aaron was just starting to actually articulate sentences, feelings and concepts. He had never said he loved him before though.

"I love you too," Mac replied. Aaron giggled and buried his head in his mother's shoulder.

"Oh, I see how it is, you love Daddy, but you don't love Mommy," Stella joked. Aaron had told her he loved her the previous morning. Aaron just giggled again. "Anyway, apologize to Don, please?" Stella got back to the subject at hand. Mac gave her a slightly disgruntled look.

"You don't have to do it right now, but soon, ok?" she allowed.

"Yes, ma'am, now like I told Maeli, I have some work to finish," he hinted.

"Alright, but dinner will be ready soon, so hurry," Stella replied, climbing off his lap and carrying their son out of the room.

* * *

Maeli walked back into her parent's bedroom and handed the phone back to her father.

"Everything taken care of?" Don asked.

"Yep" Maeli replied with a firm nod as she climbed on the bed next to her mother. She set her hand on Jess's belly. "Buddy, sissy is back and she loves you," she cooed. Don couldn't help but smile.

"Maeli, did you tell Daddy what we did today?" Jess urged.

"What did you do?" Don was curious. He removed his tie and set it on his dresser.

"We picked out a name for the baby!" Maeli replied excitedly. Don didn't know that something that excited his daughter so much, could make his heart sink so fast. His eyes jetted between Maeli and Jess.

Jess watched her husband go pale and his eyes fade. She knew that look. He was feeling left out.

"We didn't pick out a name, but we did talk about some options," Jess corrected.

"She said we couldn't name him Mac, Adam, Danny, Jake, Aaron, or any of my uncle's names," Maeli mentioned.

"Well, we wouldn't want him getting confused," Don agreed, as he continued changing out of his work clothes. He was slowly warming up to the name topic.

"And Junior, I hate to admit it, but he will not be Donald Flack the third," Jess mentioned.

"Why not?" Don asked, sitting on the bed.

"There are two of you already, and it is important to me that he has his own name," she explained. Don smiled and pulled Maeli into his lap.

"Well, then what did you two come up with?" he wondered.

"There were two winners, for us anyway, and we are open to any suggestions from you. My favorite is Eli Donald, and Maeli's is…" Jess started

"Scott David," Maeli interrupted.

"Named after your two favorite Imagination Movers, nice," Don commented, high fiving his daughter.

"I like the other one too," Maeli noted.

"What do you think Daddy?" Jess wondered.

"Well I wanted a name sake," he pouted. "But you made a very good point about giving him his own name, there is somewhat of a burden that comes from a name being passed down, but I like Eli," he smiled.

"Then at this point, we can put Eli Donald on the definite maybe list," Jess replied, rubbing her belly as their son moved.

"So what have you girls eaten today?" Don asked, knowing he didn't make anything that morning like he had been since Jess had been put on bed rest.

"We just ordered take out, I didn't have the energy to throw something together," Jess shrugged.

"Good, you're learning," he joked.

"You know if I don't behave myself, your son decides to scare the crap out of me," she teased right back. Don smirked, but felt the small twinge of truth with her last statement.

"So is anybody hungry?" he ventured. Both his wife and his daughter's hands shot up. "Well, then I guess I will go make dinner," Don smiled. As he stood from the bed, Maeli was hot on his heels.

"I wanna help," she insisted. Don looked back a Jess, she just shrugged.

"Ok, bug," he smiled, carrying her out of the room.

"Hurry back," Jess called after her.

"Can we have macaroni?" Maeli wondered as her dad set her down on the kitchen counter. Don stared at his little girl for a moment, thinking.

"I'll tell you what, you tell me what happened last night and I will make you macaroni," he bargained.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"Why were you so upset, bug?" he reworded.

"I told you Daddy, I missed you and I missed Mommy, I never see you guys and I wanted you so bad! I didn't mean to get so upset, but I was tried and crabby, and Stella and Mac weren't listening," Maeli explained.

"You know that crying and screaming is not the way to get someone to listen, right?" Don checked. He had taught his daughter manners.

"Yes, I know, but I missed you so much that my heart hurt and I wanted it to be better," Maeli sighed, looking a little forlorn.

"Baby, I am so sorry, I promised you that Mommy and I would be there for you and then Mommy got sick and we got busy. I hope you at least had some fun while you were out of the house," Don shrugged, not feeling any less guilty that he had all day.

"I did Daddy, I had so much fun, I just want to stay home for a little while, is that ok? Do you and Mommy still want me around?" Maeli really wasn't helping anything. She was making him feel like an awful parent.

"Maeli, bug, you know your mommy and I always want you around, no matter what. If we didn't need to make money, your mommy and I would spend every minute with you, ok? Don't you ever think for one minute that we would not rather be with you. Don't ever forget that," he replied adamantly.

"Ok Daddy, so am I in trouble because I yelled at Mac last night?" she had one last questioned.

"No, you called him and apologized and that was a very big girl thing to do and I am proud of you for that. I love you, bug," he finished.

"I love you too, Daddy. Now can I have some macaroni?" she asked. Don laughed.

"Yes, sweetheart, you can have some macaroni," he smiled. Don set the water to boil and went to go see if Jess wanted macaroni or something else.

"Daddy, where are you going?" Maeli asked, slightly panicked.

"Bug, I am just going to talk to your mom, I will be right back," he assured.

"But you're making dinner," Maeli protested.

"I know baby, the water has to boil," he said on a light laugh. He set a piece of paper in front of her and handed her the nearest crayon. "Draw me a picture, and I'll be right back," he distracted her. Maeli stared at him for a second and then put the crayon to paper.

"So what's for dinner?" Jess wondered as her husband reentered the bedroom. Don took a quick look over his shoulder. It wasn't that he didn't want Maeli to follow him, he just figured she would.

"Well, our darling daughter is having macaroni. I came in to see if you wanted that or would like something else," Don noted.

"I really think the whole macaroni thing is my fault. I ate a ton of it while I was pregnant with her."Jess laughed. "However, right now I really don't care for the stuff, so would you mind making something else?" she added.

"If I minded I wouldn't have offered," he smiled. He looked over his shoulder again.

"Is there something else you needed?" she asked, noticing his odd behavior.

"Maeli is acting weird," Don mentioned.

"No shit," Jess chuckled.

"She's very clingy. Do you think this behavior is just left over from last night or is something else bothering her?" he asked, quite concerned.

"Well, I'm glad you asked detective. I called her pediatrician today, just for some advice. He said she is probably experiencing some anxiety about the new baby and this is her way of acting out. He says she probably just wants attention and not to reward the behavior, but to make sure she gets attention," she explained. Don nodded. "Oh, he also said it will probably get worse before it gets better," she added.

"Wonderful," Don commented.

"She just wants to make sure she doesn't get replaced," Jess smiled.

"We could never replace her, but speaking of which, I better get back to the kitchen and work on that macaroni," he mentioned. "I will be back soon with your dinner," he promised.

"You are too sweet," Jess giggled. Don rolled his eyes and left the room.

"Daddy, I think the water is boiling," Maeli informed.

"Thank you, Bug," he replied, getting to work on the macaroni. While doing that he made spaghetti for him and Jess. When he finished he loaded two bowls of spaghetti and one bowl of macaroni up on a cookie sheet. They weren't the type of people who owned trays. "Hey bug, he called. The little girl was still watching him closely from the island in the kitchen. "You want to help me?" he asked. Maeli nodded enthusiastically and hopped off her stool. Don handed her two bottles of water and a juice box. "To the bedroom, sweetheart," he instructed.

"Why do we keep having picnics?" Maeli wondered.

"Because your Mommy has to stay in bed for awhile. When the doctor tells her she can get up, we can eat in the kitchen again," Don explained as they walked down the hallway.

* * *

After dinner, the family decided to watch a movie. Surprisingly, Maeli fell asleep halfway through.

"I thought she was going to be up all night," Jess commented.

"With as much as you said she slept, I thought she would too," Don agreed. "She must be exhausted," he noted.

"Well tonight, she can be exhausted in her own bed, I take up too much space for this bed to hold three born people," Jess mentioned.

"I take it that's my cue to take her to her room," Don laughed.

"You're a quick one detective, I knew I kept you around for a reason," she remarked. Don scooped Maeli off the bed and went to put her in her own room. When he returned to the master bedroom, he cuddled up next to his wife.

"So what did you really think about the names?" Jess asked.

"I actually like Eli, a lot," he replied.

"Well, I don't want to make that decision without you. He is your son," she continued.

"I appreciate that, "he smiled, kissing her softly. "I think I am going to take some vacation time," he blurted, he's been thinking about it all day. "Maybe we can spend some time with Maeli and take our time moving into the house," he suggested.

"If you're worried about Maeli, she is going to be just fine," she started.

"Jess, honey, I want to spend time with my family, before it changes. This is the last few months we have to be a family of three. For the last month I was at home and you were working and now you're at home while I'm working and we never see each other. At least when we were both working we saw each other there," he finished on a laugh.

"If that is really what you want to do, I would be more than happy to have you around," Jess smiled. "Wait, this isn't just because Mac got onto you is it?" she checked.

"No, I mean he may have suggested the idea, but I have put a lot of thought into it and it seems like the right thing to do," he explained.

"Well, like I said, it's up to you," she whispered, her eyes starting to fall closed. Truth was, she was tired. Doing nothing all day was actually harder than it looked. Don smiled and kissed her temple.

* * *

Mac was sitting at Don's desk when he walked in the next morning. Don all but turned and walked in the other direction when he caught the older detective's eye.

"Relax, I'm here to apologize," Mac chuckled. "I realize I was a little out of line the other night and yesterday, I'm sorry," he finished.

"It's ok, you were looking out for my family. You'll be happy to know I am planning some vacation time," Don mentioned. Mac smirked.

"I hope that wasn't all on my account, but you need the time off," he stated.

"I am glad to take it, spend some time with the women in my life before my little man comes along," Don smiled.

"Enjoy it, the time goes fast. Take it from a man who cannot believe he has nine month old at home who is walking already. But I better get back to the lab. I'm sure I'll see you later in your shift," Mac said and took his leave. Don sat down and got to work on filling out the paper work for vacation time. He was taking time.


End file.
